When healthy, the Chicago Bulls will be a tough out for any team in the Eastern Conference.

These two statements were rammed home in a lopsided affair at the Barclays Center Monday night. The Bulls overcame a sluggish start to completely outclass the Nets en route to a 27-point blowout win in which almost every Bull who stepped on the court looked good.

Rather than a blow-by-blow account of a largely pedestrian game – the Brooklyn crowd hardly betrayed the sense of urgency this game required from those wearing black and white – we’ll simply focus on the positives and negatives the Bulls can take from such a dominant win.

Derrick Rose (13 points, 5-13 shooting, 7 assists) looked the best he has since his return (small sample size, duh) and has now threaded together a pair of very good games. While 5-13 doesn’t read well, he was 5-10 at halftime including 2-3 from deep. Tonight his shot was falling with more regularity, he displayed an increased appetite to drive to the rim and his court vision seems to have improved. Either that or it just looks good when placed next to Kirk Hinrich and Aaron Brooks.

Regardless, Rose dished to his teammates early and often, finding passing lanes and angles to open shooters when the defense predictably collapsed around him.

Jimmy Butler (17 points, 7-10 shooting) may not be the overwhelming force of nature he was before Christmas, but his level of play is certainly close to that peak again. Taj Gibson (15 points, 5-6 shooting, 9 rebounds) is still a diminished player thanks to numerous ankle issues but he also has raised his game in the past week and is looking closer to his own peak level.

The Bulls biggest weapon in the playoffs will undoubtedly be Nikola Mirotic (26 points, 6-11 3pt shooting). The Serbian hit a career-high-tying 6 three-point field goals tonight including a barrage in the second half where he was running back on defense before the shot had even fallen.

Now, a lot of the good stuff the Bulls showed off tonight can be traced to a Brooklyn team who simply don’t belong in the playoffs. While the roster isn’t terrible, the mentality is non-existent. Tonight marked the second time in three years the Bulls have ended the Nets season on their own floor in humiliating fashion. Back then it was Joakim Noah running rampant in Game 7 despite having one functional leg/

Noah was listed as active but did not play tonight, likely given the night off to deal with what was called “left knee tendinitis” but was likely just a front to get him a much needed breather before this weekend.

The Bulls have now secured no worse than 4th as the Wizards cannot catch them from 5th. The Bulls now need to hope the Raptors trip up over their last two games to move back into the third seed and avoid the team who dumped them out of the first round last season.

The Nets may well live to regret this game. The Indiana Pacers leapfrogged them into 8th despite having the night off, though their remaining games against Washington and Memphis mean Brooklyn can still count themselves alive in the race for the final playoff spot in the East (Boston secured 7th with the Brooklyn loss).

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Kyrie Irving hit a buzzer-beating three to end the first quarter and beat the shot-clock in the third quarter from 70 feet. J.R. Smith nailed a three to beat the halftime buzzer as he fell out of bounds near half-court.

Smith’s shooting was symptomatic of the kind of night the Cavs had as he hit seven of his first 10 from deep (while taking zero shots inside the arc) and finished 8-17 from deep for 24 points, still with zero two-point shot attempts.

Irving finished with a game-high 27 points and hit four of his five long balls as the Cavs shot a smoldering 42 percent from deep. The Cavs have now won 18 consecutive home games.

Oh yeah, and that LeBron James guy had a triple-double – his first of the season – 20 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists.

The Bulls, for their part, somehow hung around all game despite the Cavaliers’ incredible shot-making. Aaron Brooks and Mike Dunleavy were the two bright spots for Chicago, finishing with 17 and 24 points respectively.

Despite shooting around 50 percent for most of the game, Chicago consistently dug in and prevented the game from getting away from them when they went down double-digits. On more than one occasion the crowd at the Quicken Loans Arena was on its feet anticipating a big Cleveland run into the distance and on more than one occasion the Bulls would rip off a crowd-silencing streak of baskets.

Once again though, the defense was an inconsistent mess: Three-point shooters were left open; LeBron James was given plenty of space and favorable matchups all night; Chicago put Joakim Noah on Kevin Love on the perimeter while leaving Pau Gasol to box out the massive frame of Timofey Mozgov under the rim.

The offense was still good but not good enough. Nikola Mirotic was a poor 3-12 from the floor and Jimmy Butler not much better at 6-14. Mirotic did hit a pair of late threes as the Bulls threatened to rally, closing the deficit to just five points with 2:49 to play.

However, those final 2:49 were symbolic of the entire night. With the ball and down five, Butler committed a turnover under the basket. The Cavs would score a pair of free-throws on the next possession. Pau Gasol then decided to throw the ball away down seven (their 5th giveaway of the 4th quarter) and again the Bulls gave up points off their turnovers –  Cleveland finished with 19 points off 16 Bulls turnovers.

Cleveland is now a virtual lock for the 2nd spot in the Eastern Conference and the loss means the Bulls stay 1.5 games ahead of the Raptors, though the Raptors will have the advantage of being a division winner.

The Bulls finish with a relatively good schedule – at Orlando, at Miami, vs 76ers, at Nets, vs Hawks. The Raptors, however, finish with a similarly light workload with games against Orlando, Miami, Boston and a pair of games against Charlotte.

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The Bulls blew the Toronto Raptors out of their own building Wednesday night,  shooting a season-high 61% to turn a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 13-point road  victory and complete a season sweep of the Raptors.

The incredible shooting was the Bulls’ best since November 2nd, 2012 (63.8%) and was  the catalyst for them overcoming a sluggish, low-energy opening three quarters as they  capped their night with a 39-21 fourth quarter explosion.

Chicago could barely miss a shot in the final period, opening it 13-17 from the field and  finishing the quarter 15-20 to shred the Raptors’ slumping defense to ribbons.

No particular Bull led things emphatically in the fourth quarter as seven Bulls scored 4 or more in the frame, though Nikola Mirotic’s 15 points on 6-11 shooting included more of the kind of plays that have recently seen him ghost up on the field for Rookie of the Year as his offense carried the Bulls early and helped kill the game as a contest late.

Jimmy Butler played his second game back from injury and looked back to his All-Star best, posting 23 points on 7-8 shooting, hitting a pair of threes and going 7-9 at the free-throw line. Pau Gasol had 18 points mostly early and Tony Snell had 17 points, 7 in the fourth quarter on 7-9 shooting as his confidence continues to grow.

Even Kirk Hinrich hit timely shots – his three field goals coming at crucial junctures with Toronto threatening to run into the distance in the first half or make a late comeback run were held off easily.

The Raptors had given the Bulls all the offense they could handle, especially in a first half where it felt like they were unable to miss, especially from deep – Greivis Vasquez hit four first-half triples and finished with a career-high 6 threes on 11 attempts to post 22 points to lead Toronto.

Despite Toronto shooting lights out from deep for the first 40 minutes, many of their long shots were low percentage looks that eventually stopped dropping once the Bulls defense began to bite down the stretch. The Raptors hit 9 of their first 16 threes and missed all of their final five.

The win moves the Bulls clear in third place, 1.5 games up on the Raptors as they aim to win as many as possible with the lower half of the Eastern Conference bracket too crazy to predict – the Indiana Pacers looked like the lower-seed nightmare nobody wanted to draw 10 days ago and they have now lost 7 straight and sit 10th in the standings.

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The Bulls may have won 104-95 in Philadelphia to end a 3-game losing streak and win their 40th game of the season, but this was one of the worst performances of the Bulls’ season. And that despite the goodwill earned by playing without Derrick Rose, Jimmy Butler, Joakim Noah and Taj Gibson – a quartet that would make a pretty great core for any team.

We’ll skip to the third quarter since nothing of note happened in the opening 24 minutes of a game that felt a lot like a preseason contest – a weak crowd, two poor rosters and an overall lack of urgency.

The game was tied 51-51 going into the third quarter and 7:50 later the Sixers scored their first points of the third quarter. The Bulls scored just nine points in that period.

Yes, these two teams combined for 9 points in almost eight minutes of basketball. It was awful.

The Bulls led by 14 in the 14th quarter on the back of a typical Pau Gasol double-double night and some hot shooting from Aaron Brooks. Then it all fell apart.

Philadelphia mounted a comeback as the Bulls decided to take their foot off the gas and coast the rest of the way, allowing the Sixers to rally and take the lead 80-79 with 6:12 left in the game.

From there, the teams traded baskets until Tony Snell missed a running layup with 43 seconds remaining.

The Sixers would hit a pair of free-throws on the next possession before Brooks somehow connected on a wild fadeaway three to tie the game at 92 and send the game nobody wanted to watch into overtime. Free basketball never felt so unwanted.

Overtime served as the wakeup the Bulls needed as they outscored Philadelphia 13-3 in the period for the final margin, Gasol scoring for the first time since late in the third quarter and Brooks racking up points until he finished with 31, a season high.

This was utterly dreadful, uninspired March basketball. Classic Bulls basketball, really.

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Without Derrick Rose (knee), Jimmy Butler (shoulder) and Taj Gibson (ankle) against the Wizards the Bulls should have been in for a battle. The battle they did get was a physical, slow-paced, intense and oftentimes angry game of basketball that saw multiple players in foul trouble and Nene ejected after picking up his 6th foul, though he should have been out much earlier for a blatant hatchet job on a Joakim Noah shot attempt.

Nikola Mirotic led all scorers with 23 points, another stellar effort coming on just 13 shot attempts as he showcased his growing arsenal of moves – he scored in transition, in the post, on cuts and from behind the three-point line – while being active on defense and first to a loose ball that should have sealed the victory.

Speaking of Noah, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year has been on the upswing since early January and had one of his best all-round performances of the season with 14 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks and 2 steals. His overall presence defensively forced the Wizards to miss a ton of shots and he reverted back to the offensive pivot he was last season when Rose was on the shelf.

Rose’s current replacement, Aaron Brooks (22 points, 8-23 FGS), proved yet again the Bulls front office and Tom Thibodeau can compliment each other well as he provided some huge offensive spark, utterly detonating the Wizards flimsy pick and roll defense play after play, at times enjoying 10 feet of space in the half-court coming off a screen. He did throw up some badly judged shots late in the fourth while the game was still close but it’s forgivable given his overall input.

The Bulls led most of the way in this one, fluctuating from double-digit leads to allowing the Wizards to make runs and close the gap. Each time though, Chicago would call timeout, regroup and tighten up the defense. This marked one of the better defensive efforts all year, though the Wizards play into the Bulls wheelhouse with their reliance on the mid-range game.

A quick word on Nene — the Brazilian forward struggled all night after getting into early foul trouble, was enraged by being outplayed by Joakim Noah and decided to make it known. He unleashed a vicious right-handed chop on a Noah layup attempt that barely avoided earning him an outright ejection. A few minutes later he executed a hip-toss on Noah to earn his sixth foul and ensure his night would end scoreless, 0-4 from the field in 21 minutes.

Aside from that, the game was a typical grind-em-out Bulls game where the offense actually looked decent. Funny how that always seems to happen when Kirk Hinrich plays limited minutes?

The Bulls improve to 38-23, a half-game behind Toronto for the second seed and a half-game ahead of the Cavaliers in fourth.

—- Other notes —-

— Doug McDermott played. Call off the search party. That said, he looked overawed by the situation, made some sloppy mistakes and looked overmatched athletically which should be the Bulls biggest concern. Hopefully a full off-season and no more injuries will let the Bulls take stock of what they have in McBuckets.

— This was the first time Nene had fouled out scoreless in 787 career games (including the playoffs)

— The Wizards are now 34-27 after starting 31-15, losing 12 of their last 15 games.

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(Yes, we’ve gone for 6-on-5 this time, because we all needed a little space to vent).

1. What was your first reaction to the latest Derrick Rose injury?

Caleb Nordgren: I smacked my desk at work and swore loudly.

Kelly Scaletta: Oh well. We all knew it was possible.

Peter Owen: The first time I read the initial tweets breaking the news, it failed to process. The second time, it felt like a freight train hit me.

Trenton Jocz: I just assumed I would wake up in a minute.

Avi Saini: Nothing more than blinking my eyes a few times and sighing deeply. You know it’s bad when the reaction is no longer “Oh my God this is terrible!” like it was when Rose first got injured (or Paul George broke his leg).

Brian Schroeder: 

2. WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

CN: Because happiness is a lie and nothing good can ever come of hope.

KS: I’ll actually answer the question literally. Or at least what believe. Rose is too big, strong and fast for his own ligaments. 

PO: This is basically karma rebalancing itself for all those titles and relatively injury-free Michael Jordan years.

TJ: Because for all we know, this isn’t that strange of a surgery and is just clean-up. Panicking never really makes things better. If this came in early January, with a mid-March return date, it wouldn’t sound as dire. Instead, this could very well impact the playoffs, which amplifies it.

AS: Because the world is a cruel place that refuses to let anyone have fun.

BS: 

3. How does this impact the Bulls both short- and long-term?

CN:  Short term? Another depressing end-of-season slog to the playoffs and likely exit before where they’d hoped. Long term? Time to start building around Jimmy and Mirotic.

KS: Not as much as previously. Rose is the third-best player on the Bulls this year. I think they are better prepared to survive this one.

PO: It’s going to feel like a funeral in the Bulls training center today and until there is a firm timetable in place for Rose’s return. The short term, it categorically ends Chicago’s slim title chances. Longer term, the Bulls really can’t build around Rose as a franchise cornerstone which, on that contract, is going to be a difficult task. However, the Bulls front office managed to put together a 2nd-round team without Rose last year and this year’s team sans-Derrick is easily superior in terms of overall talent and depth. It’s not the death sentence it was in 2012 or early in his first return in 2013.

TJ: Short-term, it takes them out of the title conversation. I’ve maintained all year I’d pick them to win the East but lose in the Finals, so unless you think they’d beat a more talented, better coach team like Golden State, the binary goal of winning it all is likely unchanged. Funny how people thought Rose had lost his game yet now take the Bulls out of the contender group. Long-term, not much. Franchise players aren’t readily available, so Rose is still vital to their future. However, it does make the decision to consolidate two first round picks into one player who is highly unlikely to be a real franchise changer (Doug McDermott) look even worse.

AS:  Short term I don’t think it does much. Truth be told the January stretch of terrible play has made me 180 on my hopes of a title this year. Taking Rose out of the equation pretty much solidifies that thought. Long-term I think it removes Rose as being the focal point of the team. Thibs has been a point guard guru since taking over the Bulls because his system focuses around scoring first guards. Unfortunately his health just doesn’t allow that. The team is now going to have to make a tough decision on who to keep versus let go, who to build around, and who will manage that restructuring. Oh… and long term I think this probably seals Thibodeau’s firing even though it isn’t exactly his fault… but that’s a topic for another time.

BS: 

4. Should the Bulls target a free-agent point guard, and if yes, who?

CN: I guess? Dunno who would be available, given they won’t have cap space.

KS: Well, they have to. Kirk’s health is questionable too. Nate’s the easy answer, but I’m not sure he’s the same Nate.

PO: Nate Robinson is available, loves the Bulls and I know I would at least enjoy seeing his energy out on the court. He had a down year this year before being bought out by the Celtics post-trade. You gotta make the phonecall.

TJ: I doubt it matters. Good vets aren’t available. Good D-League guys won’t earn the trust of Thibs. Bad vets are… well, Mike James.

AS:  I’d like them to but a few things hinder going after a point guard in free agency. First: Cap space. The Bulls would have to sign and trade to get someone respectable. Secondly: Kirk Hinrich because we know hell hath no fury like Kirk Hinrich.

BS: 

5. How much are you looking forward to Kirk Hinrich playing 30 minutes per game?

CN: Kill me now.

KS: Sigh. Grit.

PO: Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha—*jumps under a bus*

TJ: I don’t think his body can handle 30 minutes a night, but I’m trying to be positive and think that his skills will play better as a point than a wing. There will actually be a reason for him to handle the ball as opposed to having a terrible shooter play a spot-up role.

AS:

BS: 

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Trailing 81-73 with 1:57 to play in the third quarter, the Bulls went on a 17-4 run to haul in the red-hot Suns and take the lead, draining shot after shot while the defense finally started limiting Phoenix’s ability to score at will from wherever they felt like.

The bench, worked over by a superior Phoenix unit for most of the first three quarters, outscored Phoenix’s reserve unit by a huge margin after the fourth quarter began, with Aaron Brooks, Tony Snell and Nikola Mirotic all connecting on three-pointers to send the Bulls ahead for good 88-85.

From there, the Bulls stretched the lead to nine points and threatened to run into the distance before a few timely Suns baskets kept them close in the final few minutes.

Taj Gibson had one of his better games of the season, being active on both sides of the ball and flying across the court for rebounds and offensive put-backs. His highlight of the game finishing a dunk off a lobbed pass from Joakim Noah in the high post the kind of play only the Bulls can really pull off. He finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds on 6-9 shooting.

Derrick Rose set the tone early for the Bulls as he passed up his maligned outside shooting in favor of routinely attacking the basket. His forays to the rim frequently left Pau Gasol wide open right in his wheelhouse around the free-throw line, or led to easy layups or the Suns sending Rose to the line for two.

The Suns tried to cut into the lead late in the game, closing to within five but the Bulls pulled it out thanks to timely baskets from Gasol and free-throws from Rose and Butler.

Despite both teams shooting more than 50 percent from the field for most of the first half, the game failed to develop any real flow with both teams carelessly turning the ball over on a series of bad passes and dropped catches and the rare out-of-bounds violation called on Mike Dunleavy for straying off-court for too long.

Suns bench scored 27 of it’s first 43 points.

Nikola Mirotic, despite struggling to secure a rotation spot and finding himself playing at small forward, managed some terrific first half minutes, scoring on back-to-back plays showcasing his lauded versatility – a catch-and-shoot three followed by a drive to the hoop scoring through contact.

The win pushes the Bulls to 35-21, a full game ahead of the Cleveland Cavaliers and three games behind the second-placed Toronto Raptors.

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Rare is the Bulls game that is decided by the start of the fourth quarter.

Blowouts in either direction this season have seen either Chicago hang around until  deep in the fourth quarter or fail to properly close out poor teams. Saturday night in New  Orleans was not one of those occassions.

With Anthony Davis fresh off his absurd three-point game-winner last night in  Oklahoma City, the Bulls promptly came out and engaged in the kind of sloppy, slow,  low-scoring affair that became their calling-card over the past few years.

The Pelicans’ first 20 points and first 18 field goals came in the paint, the Bulls apparently taking defensive innovation a step too far – or, conversely, the end result of trying to check Anthony Davis with Pau Gasol.

Davis should garner several more MVP votes after his impact on the game was displayed in rather stark terms. After a heavy fall on a dunk, Davis left the game and would not return with the score tied at 35-35 and five minutes left in the first half.

The Bulls would tear off on a 72-37 run the rest of the game, including a 20-3 run coming out of halftime that settled the game as a competitive affair. The final 35-point margin of victory was the Bulls largest of the season and most lopsided win since a January 2013 rout of the Atlanta Hawks. Only the opening-night laugher against the New York Knicks can come close this season.

Derrick Rose was his by-now customary mixture of shot-making despite weird shot selection, finishing with 20 points on 8-15 shooting. Pau Gasol was also his typical double-double machine, also scoring 20 points to go with 15 rebounds before he was pulled alongside Rose in the third quarter with the scoreboard heavily favoring the Bulls.

The brightest of all spots for the Bulls on a night to be fairly happy with was Tony Snell. Despite wildly fluctuating minutes – from playing 30 minutes some games to zero minutes in an entire week – he stepped into this game over Nikola Mirotic and came close to a career-high with 19 points, hitting five of his six three-point attempts as he was locked in from the moment he checked in.

While most players experiencing some kind of hot night would expect to see significant burn in their next contest, there’s probably an equal chance Snell ends up buried on the bench tomorrow night in Orlando, a fate that has befallen Doug McDermott most of this year and Nikola Mirotic tonight.

The Serbian, despite being among the candidates for Rookie of the Year and named to the Rising Stars contest, didn’t log a single minute in the first half and only entered the game when the result was beyond all doubt.

He immediately settled into his rhythm, displaying flashes of passing, shooting and ball-handling in his limited time. He made sure his absence would go noticed earlier in the game, throwing a pair of flashy passes to McDermott and one astonishing alley-oop for E’Twaun Moore that he pulled off with a nonchalant flick of his wrists.

McDermott finally saw court time after recovering from a lingering injury, some would suggest he also insulted a member of Thibodeau’s family or missed every flight and team bus over the past four weeks he’s been available such has been Thibs’ reluctance to use the player the Bulls felt necessary to make a major (by Bulls standards) trade on draft night to acquire.

McDermott scored a quick nine points on a backdoor cut, a nice three-pointer off a series of down-screens and a strong post-move against Pelicans bench players.

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With a 102-98 road win in Dallas, the Bulls completed a brutal back-to-back set against San Antonio and on the road against the Mavericks unbeaten.

Contrast that to the impending sense of dread spreading throughout Chicago’s media and the team’s fans in the wake of the loss to Cleveland Monday night with rumors of locker-room strife and a coach allegedly on the hot seat.

A hot first half from Derrick Rose and a tradedmark no-quit second half effort by Jimmy Butler let the Bulls hang on for a win amid a number of mental lapses down the stretch.

Before we progress to the blow-by-blow, a quick word on Tony Snell’s sudden emergence as an NBA-caliber player. Snell’s chances had been all but written off earlier this season as Doug McDermott and E’Twuan Moore moved ahead of him at times in the depth chart.

However he has now strung together a handful of decent games, rewarded tonight with a start and 30 minutes of burn. He finished with 10 points on 4-7 shooting, hitting half of his four from behind the arc.

Rose’s 18-point first half made it eight consecutive 18-point games. A 4-4 start including a pair of threes pushed the Bulls out to a 16-8 lead midway through the first quarter.

While Rose fell off in the second half – he was just 1-10 in the second half after going 6-7 in the first – Jimmy Butler channeled his December form coming up with big shots and timely rebounds right down to the final minute. His 20-point, 8-rebound, 6-assist night ultimately proved decisive.

Butler’s two biggest plays of the night came late in this game, poking loose a rebound Tyson Chandler thought he had which led to Aaron Brooks being fouled while shooting from deep. His second, a brutally tough jumper against good defense to keep the scoreboard moving as the Bulls hemorrhaged points on bad decisions and equally strong Dallas shot-making.

After Butler’s make, Dirk Nowitzki took his chance to make a ridiculous shot, off-balance while possibly being fouled, finding the net by way of the backboard to cut the lead to six, 99-93, with less than 100 seconds to play.

From there, the Bulls had a late shot-clock miss by Gibson (15 points, 7 rebounds), Chandler hit a pair of free-throws before Gibson drew a foul with 0.3 seconds left on the shot-clock and the Bulls threatening to cough up the ball and momentum to the Mavs.

Monta Ellis nailed an and-one 16-footer over Gibson, allowing the Mavs to play defense rather than foul with 28.6 seconds left and down just 100-98.

The Bulls struggled to find a good look, Rose missing while probably being fouled before coming up huge with a rebound on his own miss, quickly tossing the ball to Kirk Hinrich who wisely ran the clock down rather than launching an uncontested three.

Gasol hit two free-throws with 0.1 seconds left for the final margin.

The Bulls improve to 29-16, percentage points behind the Toronto Raptors and with the same number of wins as the second-place Washington Wizards.

——Quick hits——

Joakim Noah made his return and again didn’t look near his former Defensive Player of the Year self. Just six points and 7 rebounds tonight.

Both teams were perfect from the line until deep in the fourth quarter, the Bulls finishing 17-20 and the Mavs a perfect 18-18.

The Bulls dominated on the boards, winning that battle 47-30 despite it feeling like they gave up a handful of critical ones and the usual energy-sapping Tyson Chandler back-tap rebounds.

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The Utah Jazz left Chicago with a win Wednesday night after the Bulls proved it was possible to lose a game in a more wretched fashion than their 20-point blowout loss to Brooklyn to end 2014.

The Bulls set season lows in both points scored and shooting percentage.

The loss moves the Bulls to 25-11, 2.5 games back from the pace-setting Hawks and drops them back into a tie with the Toronto Raptors.

Rudy Gobert has quietly had a strong season in Utah and again – quietly – he compiled an impressive box score, finishing with 11 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in 34 minutes.

No single player was the main factor for the Jazz’s rather dominant win. A flat Bulls start – nothing ever changes – allowed the Jazz to slow the game down throughout the first half and a spurt to end the third quarter and start the fourth killed any infant comeback thoughts the Bulls may have entertained.

The Bulls’ backcourt combined for SHOOTING from the field. Derrick Rose was once again awful, shooting 3-15 in 30 minutes. With Rose shooting 28-110 over his last six games, the shooting slump is becoming seriously problematic.

Rose’s defender was able to help off when the ball found it’s way into the post, giving Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson a hard time finding space to operate.

Nikola Mirotic and Gasol combined for 6-20 from the field and 15 points and the Bulls shot just 33.3 percent for the ballgame, a slight improvement on the first half’s nauseating 28 percent clip.

There was very little to take solace in from Chicago’s hideous night. Perhaps one: Benny the Bull did sink his back-to-the-basket halfcourt shot during the fourth quarter. Maybe he’s available for a 10-day contract?

Every player who saw minutes outside of garbage time finished with a negative plus-minus other than Tony Snell, who hit two of his three shot attempts and grabbed three rebounds in twelve minutes.

Joakim Noah has been playing with all the finesse of a statue for the majority of the season and, with the All-Star break not far away, the question of sitting him for a week either before or after the showcase becomes increasingly hard to ignore.

The Bulls are in the midst of a hectic schedule, having played home games against Boston and Houston on Saturday and Monday.

Now, the team must face the rising Wizards on the road Friday as part of five games in seven nights.

That stretch is followed by a Saturday-Monday double date with the Conference-leading Atlanta Hawks and the Cleveland Cavaliers, who should have LeBron James back healthy in time. The Spurs and Mavericks are on tab after that to round off a particularly brutal part of the schedule.

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